For the third straight week, fixed-rate mortgages inched down, reaching new lows. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged a record low of 4.01 percent this week while the 15-year fixed-rate set a new record of 3.28 percent, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey. In Western areas, 30-year rates moved even lower, averaging 3.95 percent, Freddie reports.
"Fixed mortgage rates fell to all-time record lows this week following the Federal Reserve's announcement of its Maturity Extension Program and additional purchases of mortgage-backed securities,” Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement.
Daily Real Estate News | Friday, September 30, 2011
Jay's Notes: This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event to see interest rates go this low. This has been the critical element behind the rates of return that today's investors can get in real estate. Remember where interest rates were in the 80's recession? In the high teens. Ultra-low interest rates do not necessarily coincide with significant value drops, but in this cycle it did in a big way. Investors that take advantage of it will make fortunes over the next 10 years.